OK, so the SibLimphiles have had to wait a bit, but it's great to see that:

 "It's starting to look something like now, with deck framing and the tabernacle in place. I have to decide what colour to paint said tabernacle - it's pretty big and I'm not sure I want it to stand out too much!"

If you've got it, flaunt it. The topsides are going to be red and green, so the tabernacle can be, too.

Yes, indeed, Arne.  Our local manufacturer, Altex, makes polyurethane paints that can be mixed to any colour.  You need to go to a trade shop to get this done because we are talking of commercial products here.  We have a great place in Whangarei, who also gives you a 'trade' account, ie 15% off, if you go there often enough.  My friendly, neighbourhood chandler used to work for paint manufacturers and he, too, will mix to any colour.  Being commercial products, they don't have the 'brushability' of something such as International Perfection, but with perseverance one can achieve at least acceptable results.

Graham Cox wrote:

Is that shade of yellow called primrose?  Whatever it's called, it looks lovely and very smart too, as does your newly varnished fore-cabin.

You're too kind.  It's about the colour of primroses, but its official name is the romantic FFFF80.  The local colour card calls it "Salomie" - heaven knows why!

Tremendous, Annie. What beautiful progress, in this post and the last. It all looks absolutely gorgeous – hooray for portholes cut!

Shemaya

So sorry not to have blogged for a while, but I dare say those that are following my story will have been busy with all the things that happen around Christmas.  anyway, I've just posted a nice long one on my blog (which also includes a couple of nice photos of the Tall Ships junket).